A 7 year old was today recovering from gunshot wounds he received yesterday afternoon. It sounds serious and it is - but this minor was not the victim of stray bullets exchanged between adults - in fact it was the result of a dangerous discovery made under his verandah.

Monica Bodden found out more when she visited the family today:..

7 year old Keron Coleman - this morning showed us inside the palm of his little hand - which was visibly burnt from the gunpowder discharge of a -38 revolver.

The bullet almost penetrated the bone of his pinky finger.
The Standard one student of St Mary's Primary School - accidentally shot himself yesterday afternoon.

In his own words, he told us what happened.

Keron Coleman - Victim"Yesterday I was in the room with my mom, my baby brother and my uncle watching Dragon Balls Z, then I went to eat after finish eating I went to wash my hand then I went outside, I saw a gun under the house verandah, I pick it up and that is when it just shoot my hand."

Monica Bodden"So you didn't pull the trigger?"

Keron Coleman - Victim"I never pulled the trigger because I know that the trigger was on."

Monica Bodden"So you just pick up the gun?"

Keron Coleman - Victim"Yes ma'am, I just pick up the gun."

Monica Bodden"And it went off....?"

Keron Coleman - Victim"It just went off and shoot my hand."

His mother was inside the house at the time of the incident. She said her son ran inside - holding his hand.

Nicole Avilez - Mother"I ask my son what happen, he is holding his hand and bawling that he got shot, so I grab my son and I ran out through the alley way to get help and then a lady call for the police and I just jump in a taxi to the hospital. On the way there I ask my son who shot him? he said that somebody shot him , so I ask him if he knows the person because we are familiar with everybody around here. He said that he doesn't know the person, I ask him if someone give him the gun to hold and he said no, then I ask him how he got shot and he never wanted to answer me, it looks like he was scared that I might beat him or something and no matter what I do to comfort him he is still afraid to talk to me and he never wanted to answer the police either."

And that was because - the supposed gunman - was the 7 year old himself.

He accidentally shot himself in the hand with a .38 revolver that was lying under his verandah.

Nicole Avilez - Mother"Yesterday evening when we came home around 4 o' clock I sit him down and I told him that mommy loves him and that mommy will not beat him, mommy is here to protect you and the police are here to protect you if somebody did that to you talk to mommy or talk to the police. And that's when he said that after he had finished washing his hand he went and he look under the verandah and he found the gun and he wanted to feel the gun and the gun just went off in his hand."

The gun which we understand was stashed there by a relative - was placed under the verandah without her knowing.

Nicole Avilez - Mother"I don't even buy toy gun for my son, not even 'pop shots', dynamite because I don't want my son to expose to those type of things out there so I try to keep my son far from those things, I even puncture his bicycle just so that he don't ride up through the alley way because of the environment that we live in."

Monica Bodden"You had no idea that a gun was under your verandah?"

Nicole Avilez - Mother"I have no idea because if I had know that was under there I would have put a stop to it."